


Solidarity in Oppositions

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, HiyoIku Week 2020, M/M, hiyoiku week, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22836886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Prince Ikuya needs to escape from his life and decides to go to the beach to stargaze, only to be met with a kind and scared merman with lonesome troubles. They talk and bond with each other.
Relationships: Kirishima Ikuya/Tono Hiyori
Kudos: 16





	Solidarity in Oppositions

**Author's Note:**

> The kanji for the breaks are Water(Mizu) and Star(Hoshi) haha!  
> It's mermaid au themed like for day 2 but since it's free day I can repeat! haha~!~!~Solidarity in Oppositions

Ikuya needs an escape from his mind. He’s the youngest Prince of the island he lives on and he needs to escape every so often, the pressure gets to him. Being the youngest doesn’t alleviate any pressure.

The dark velvet sky that glitters helps take Ikuya away from his troubles and the sparkling deep blues of the ocean facilitates. The salty aroma of the sea helps ease his troubled mind. The flickering stars cause courage to erupt inside his soul.

The fluffy and sparkling imagination of Ikuya runs wild as he lays on the edge of the pier, allowing his legs to flow over the end. This pier is long and rather close to the water, he rolled up his pants and took off his socks and shoes to dip his feet and ankles in the warm summer ocean. He stares up at the beautiful sparkles of hope above him. Space and oceans both interest him. He can name every little constellation he slowly fixates on. He relaxes more and more...

Cassiopeia, Draco, Lyra, Ursa Major and Minor, Andromeda, and The Summer Triangle. He looks south and sees Virgo, Libra, Scorpius. He sighs and wonders… How many of these beautiful stars are dead, burnt out, or have exploded under pressure. The beauty in a dead star is everything else can be born from it. A vicious but glorious cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Sure, it’s rather depressing to think about such beauty in the night dying in such gruesome ways but the reality is we see ghosts of the past when we look up… Such beauty comes with a price… But without a supernova life wouldn’t exist. Heavy elements are due to exploding stars. We should be thankful. Plus, more stars are born from these explosions as well, soon enough they light up the night sky for us to see.

水✧♛✧星

Hiyori is a typical merman in the large ocean of this Earth. The kingdom where he resides is full of beautiful merpeople, beautiful fish, and overall beautiful life. He feels too ordinary in this underwater world and wishes for more. He wishes for bigger and better things.

Hiyori rests on his upper body on a rock above the surface for a bit. He sighs and looks at the surface in front of him. Small amounts of shining city lights to the west, and the shining stars above that without a doubt would be a bit brighter if the small number of city lights disappeared.

With a sigh and huff, Hiyori lifts himself up a bit better to sit on the rock above the ocean. Luckily Hiyori’s upper body strength is great because he’s done this sorta thing a lot. Many merpeople are agile and have really small builds. He loves being on the surface so he’s not as agile, he needs to use his upper body to move more on the surface. The rocks he rests on and the pier, which an unknown figure to Hiyori is laying on, are his two favorite spots to view things.

Hiyori curls up his viridian green tail that bares light green and blue shimmers. These shimmers catch Ikuya’s eye as he looks to his north. Ikuya looks at the small shimmer from afar and is too curious to not get up and scope it out.

水✧♛✧星

Ikuya stands up slowly, not allowing the warm salty water of his feet and ankles to touch his clothes. He staggers a bit from how tired he is and how long he has been in that very position. He feels static and his body is like it's asleep but he’s persistent and moves forward. Heading up the pier and trying to dry his feet off by shaking and doing smaller steps just enough so the sand doesn’t stick to his feet. That’s one feeling Ikuya does hate about the beach. He refuses to put his shoes back on with wet feet though so he decides to man up and allow his semi-wet feet touch the sand.

Slowly but surely making his way to the rocks, the ocean is calm and there’s no danger in his mind. The sparkling glimmer is beautiful and captivating. He’s curious… He sees it move a bit and stops in his tracks. Confused, he thinks to himself if it’s a trap by some creep or if it’s something else?

As he approaches this unknowing figure in the night, Hiyori has been eyeing this person approaching him. Both have acknowledged the other existence… both are curious. Though, Hiyori is actually afraid. He cowers a bit. Humans on the surface have been known to use the scales of merpeople for things he doesn’t have the stomach to think about.

“Who are you?” Ikuya hops over some of the rocks. His bare feet are in pain because the rocks are sorta jagged. He sits down and allows his feet to be in the air a bit. Wanting to dry them to put his socks and shoes back on. He sets his shoes and socks in his lap. Hiyori shudders a bit more, this man is rather beautiful, he thinks. But his knowledge of humans haunts him. Can he trust him?

“Tono… Hiyori…” His calm voice soothes Ikuya, Ikuya smiles at him warmly.

“I’m Kirishima Ikuya, I… Uh… Love your tail!” He points to Hiyori’s tail, “It’s a pretty color!”

Hiyori is worried. Of course, his tail is weird and awe-striking since it’s new to Ikuya, but tails are all humans want from merpeople? He lets his guard down though, this man beside him seems innocent and clearly doesn’t have any weapons that can disembody him. Plus, he’s rather cute…

“Thanks,” Hiyori says as he folds his arms around his tail.

“C-can I touch it?” Ikuya states with hesitation. He’d hate to invade Hiyori’s personal space but he’s enchanted, he’s leaning closer to Hiyori’s face. The merman blushes a bit.

“Uh, sure but...” Hiyori lowers his head as he says this, he’s vulnerable, “Humans on the surface use our tails for things. I don’t know you so please don’t betray the trust I will give you?” Hiyori looks to see Ikuya’s dark amber eyes staring longingly at his face and not his tail. This causes his heart to beat out of sync.

Ikuya leans over to touch Hiyori’s tail, Hiyori knows Ikuya has no clue how this would feel to him, it’s a different feeling than on his upper body, he bushes.

“It’s so cold and slippery,” Ikuya’s lit up and curious face makes Hiyori’s chest ache a bit. He can’t figure out his feelings or what anything means just yet. He’s lost.

“Yeah, it’s weird right?” He laughs to ease the tension inside him. Ikuya looks at Hiyori as he chuckles, his chuckle reads as desperate and forced to Ikuya. He frowns at this action of the merman.

“You okay?” Ikuya puts his hand back on Hiyori’s tail causing Hiyori to tense up even more so. Ikuya notices this as well, “I don’t know what you’ve gone through but do you need to talk about it? I can listen.”

These kind and selfless words cause a tsunami of emotions within Hiyori’s muddled mind. How can someone, who he is supposed to see as an enemy, be so kind to him?

Noticing the unease more and more within Hiyori, Ikuya just smiles and nods. Encouraging Hiyori to speak what’s on his hurting mind.

“Well,” Hiyori starts and sighs, if he never sees Ikuya ever again there should be no harm in confessing his problems, “My life isn’t really going that great right now,” He allows himself to totally break down in front of this cute man before him. Ikuya looks at Hiyori with sincere eyes and Hiyori looks off into the ocean as it calmly moves little bits at a time. This is to avoid awkward eye contact, “I don’t have any friends and I’m kinda outcasted. I’m too typical. Everyone around me stands out but It’s weird you know. I’m an outcast for being too boring and ordinary.”

Hiyori put so much power and emphasis on that last sentence, the hurt and confusion reached Ikuya’s soul. Ikuya understands completely, but it’s the exact opposite for him. He’s the prince of this island to the side of them… He stands out for being too extraordinary. He’s kinda grown accustomed to it as he got older but it always seems people wanted to be his friend or date him for his status… and not him as a human being. It caused him to feel like an object and he felt completely objectified and dehumanized. Ikuya does get it though, some people wanna be in his shoes…

“I get it because I’m the opposite, Hiyori,” The teal haired man softens his whole body.

Hiyori looks at Ikuya with curiosity, he’s inquisitive, he nods. Letting Ikuya tell his side… He wants to know a lot about this stunning man beside him.

“I’m the Prince of this island,” Ikuya says as he shifts his head to look at his homeland, “I stand out too much and I look very much like my mom, the Queen… People know me everywhere I go and sometimes I wish I could just hide or blend in if that makes sense?”

Hiyori’s mind floods once more with rationality, he gets Ikuya’s perspective…

“People only wanna be my friend for status, they never care to get to know me for me. They see me as some sort of shiny commodity,” Ikuya’s face reads as hurt and Hiyori can feel his pain without understanding how he feels.

They sit next to each other, solidarity of being an outcast for totally different reasons. They get it. They understand each other without experiencing their side first hand. They both stare at the stars above. Eventually, Ikuya breaks his gaze of space to stare at Hiyori for a bit, as Hiyori stares up. He cannot help but think of Hiyori as extraordinary in his heart. He’s kind, understanding, has empathy, and is completely and utterly gorgeous.

Eventually, Hiyori notices Ikuya staring at him. He breaks that same gaze from above to glance at Ikuya’s face. They both blush and turn away from each other.

Both Hiyori and Ikuya shift a bit closer to each other, it’s the dead of night and no one can see them anyway, they think simultaneously.

“Hey,” Ikuya breaks their awkward and over complicated silence, “Do you know about constellations?” Ikuya keeps getting close to Hiyori, shifting slowly… closer and closer until their bodies are touching.

“Constellations?” Hiyori is confused, he bats his head to the side, he doesn’t know.

“It’s what the stars are shaped like, kinda lemme kinda show you,” Ikuya points upwards, “Do you see that one, that’s Cassiopeia, it looks like a W or like a three with your fingers.” Ikuya put his three fingers up to show Hiyori.

Hiyori nods and has no idea what Ikuya is even saying but he’s interested, “It’s named after a vain queen in mythology that was made long long ago, all constellations have stories about them from thousands of years ago.”

“Oh? That’s interesting,” Hiyori thinks Ikuya is silly for this knowledge but he cannot complain because it's cute to see how passionate he is about this at this very moment. His eyes are shining with absolute glory and he’s stunning to Hiyori.

“Merpeople must not look up over the surface often, the stories and knowledge of the stars must have been lost and that’s kinda sad,” Ikuya says solemnly. 

Hiyori just nods, since he doesn’t know much about the stars above his head, so for all he knows what Ikuya says is true then.

Suddenly, Ikuya shivers a bit. He’s rather cold for a warm summer night, he decides his feet and ankles are dry enough and he rolls down his pant legs and puts back on his socks and shoes, this causes Hiyori to be concerned. He sorta desperately says, “Please don’t leave me, Ikuya!”

Shock is all over Ikuya’s face, he wasn’t really planning on leaving at this moment, “Don’t worry, Hiyori. I won’t leave you right now,” His smile is warm and charismatic. Hiyori believes he must be a really charming Prince and would understand why people would be drawn to him. But why people would only care about his status is beyond him. Ikuya is so interesting, fun, and caring… he’s extraordinary in the way he strives to be.

Hiyori still doesn’t understand what he’s feeling quite yet but he’s sure he’s growing feelings for this human beside him. Shyly he sets his right hand on top of Ikuya’s left hand and looks to the east to avoid eye contact. Ikuya silently laughs to himself, he thinks Hiyori is too obvious with his actions and he’s okay with that.

“You wanna tell me something else, Hiyori?” Ikuya dives in front of Hiyori to see him blush and he tries to turn more and more to avoid Ikuya’s gaze. He still keeps his hand on Ikuya’s and the Prince can’t help how endearing Hiyori is at this moment. Ikuya sees through Hiyori like a window, “You’re so cute,” He giggles, he simply couldn’t contain himself any longer. The merman who is clearly flirting with him is too much to resist.

Hiyori is slowly melting internally, he understands he’s easy to read and tries his hardest to let things fall into place… he slowly turns his head to look at Ikuya who is still chuckling, “I can’t help it, you’re really beautiful. Infinity times more beautiful than any stupid merperson.”

Ikuya listens to this and laughs a bit harder, Hiyori tries to shush him but cannot contain his own feelings… Ikuya’s laugh is rather contagious. The two boys laugh together.

水✧♛✧星

Soon enough, Ikuya and Hiyori found each other intertwined in each others’ arms. Their worlds are completely different yet their experiences line up in very odd ways. Though opposites, and maybe that’s the beauty of it?

Hiyori allows Ikuya to basically surround him, he’s rather comfortable and sees no danger or harm and allows this to happen.

“It’s too bad we can’t really be like this for long,” Ikuya says rubbing Hiyori’s back with his thumb. Hiyori thinks Ikuya’s actions of affection are cute but his words hurt, as he too knows this cannot be a reality. Maybe they can keep meeting?

“Let’s make this and the pier over there our meeting spot, Hiyori?” Ikuya says softly.

“I can’t say no to that!” Hiyori laughs a bit, he rubs Ikuya’s back too and soon enough, they’re falling into each others’ arms.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually was trying to make this a multi-chapter thing for mermaid au day BUT... I couldn't, I had no time so I had to cut and edit it HEAVILY!!!! Hope it's still enjoyable! It was gonna be Ikuya eventually becoming a merperson to be with Hiyori and it was gonna be like... long and planned HAHA! o o o o o o o p s s s s !


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